Prof Welma Lubbe appointed to global committee for newborn brain care

Prof Welma Lubbe from the Quality in Nursing and Midwifery (NuMIQ) research focus area at the North-West University (NWU) has been appointed as the nursing representative on the global committee for the Newborn Brain Society.

Prof Lubbe, who is the director of NuMIQ and focuses her research on neonatal care in the Faculty of Health…

Achieving Africa’s vision: why universities must return to serving society

By Prof Ushotanefe Useh

Universities in Africa stand at a crossroads today. While they continue to produce research, award degrees and rank in global academic listings, an uncomfortable question lingers: are they truly serving the societies that fund and sustain them? Are their graduates solving the most…

Dr Sabelile Tenza leads the charge in healthcare innovations in Nairobi

In order to enhance healthcare throughout Africa, it is crucial to equip frontline healthcare workers with the necessary tools and confidence to drive change. However, their hard work often goes unnoticed and unappreciated.

Dr Sabelile Tenza, an expert in healthcare quality and patient safety, helped to shine a spotlight on these unsung…

Inaugural lecture explores promising tools to tackle drug-resistant diseases

In drug development, a “magic bullet” is a compound designed to kill disease-causing organisms without harming healthy cells. Such compounds are needed now more than ever because diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and sleeping sickness, which kill more than 10 million people each year, are becoming resistant to existing treatments.

Young biochemist’s rooibos and broccoli research offers hope for heart disease

Cardiovascular diseases remain among the world’s leading killers, but everyday foods like rooibos tea and broccoli may hold the key to protecting the heart, according to new research from the North-West University (NWU).

This was the core finding of the PhD study of Dr Sinenhlanhla Xoliswa Happiness Mthembu, who explored plant-based…

NWU vice-chancellor, Prof. Bismark Tyobeka, pleads for aligned academic hospital in North West

NWU vice-chancellor, Prof. Bismark Tyobeka, pleads for aligned academic hospital in North West

Prof. Bismark Tyobeka, principal and vice-chancellor of the North-West University (NWU), has lauded Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s announcement that plans are in place to add to the country’s ten academic hospitals.

Minister…

Ideal Clinic implementation could go more smoothly if practical issues are addressed

By Gofaone Motsamai

In public clinics across the North West Province, healthcare workers share limited resources and juggle growing patient numbers – all while trying to meet the standards of the Ideal Clinic Realisation and Maintenance (ICRM) programme.

Introduced in 2013, the programme is a national…

Expert hails new malaria drug approval for newborns as turning point for Africa

Switzerland’s recent approval of Coartem Baby, the first antimalarial treatment specifically designed for newborns and very young children, is a major step forward in tackling one of Africa’s most pressing public health challenges, says Dr Fortunate Mokoena, a malaria expert at the North-West University (NWU). Developed by Novartis with support…

International expert launches tissue bioprinting laboratory at NWU

Tissue bioprinting and regenerative medicine are critical new frontiers in advancing human health. In partnership with a top Spanish researcher, the NWU has dramatically expanded its bioprinting research and innovation capabilities in its quest to find alternatives to animal testing and enhance personalised medicine.

Prof Daniel Nieto,…

Consumer Sciences students explore the power of bacon

What happens when science and taste come together in a delicious collaboration? For a group of final-year Consumer Sciences students at the North-West University (NWU), it meant diving into the world of sensory food research with bacon* taking centre stage.

The fourth-year students recently completed their research project that brought…